The Hairy Ape is an expressionist play by Eugene O’Neill first produced by the Provincetown Players 1922. The production is directed and designed by Robert Edmond Jones. The play centers on the life of a laborer named Yank. He is a satisfied ship fireman on the engine of an ocean liner until he has a crisis with his true identity, due to a comment of Mildred Douglas, a rich girl that he was a filthy beast. Yank went to Manhattan New York to solve his identity crisis. He wants to find a place where he really belongs. Yank has many misfortunes in Manhattan from the elegant street of 5th Avenue to the prisons of Black Island. He then joined a labor union, ending up in the zoo where a gorilla killed him. The play is divided into eight scenes. It reflects the concerns of the industrial working class. The play viewed that the capitalism made the workers suffer. The play presented the industrial movement as a world of the rich, superficial and dehumanized individuals.


Characters


Yank  -  Yank works as a Fireman on a Transatlantic Ocean Liner. The play follows his quest to find a sense of belonging in modern, industrial society. Yank, whose real name is Bob Smith, was born in New York City and was brought up in a lower class family. Yank is sometimes a menacing figure who has difficulty with thought.


Mildred Douglas - The frail, impetuous twenty-year-old daughter of the owner of Nazareth Steel. Mildred has enjoyed the advantage of all of life’s monetary privileges and has no real knowledge of work or hardship. In an attempt to understand the poorer classes she does service project and studied sociology in college. Mildred’s reaction to Yank causes his class awareness.


Mildred’s Aunt -  A stuffy, fat, middle-aged aristocratic woman who is intensely critical of Mildred’s involvement in social work. Mildred’s Aunt has no taste for “deformity” and thinks Mildred makes the poor only feel poorer with her presence.


Paddy - An old and wise Irishman who works with Yank as a fireman aboard the Ocean Liner. Paddy, known for drunkenness, thinks the firemen are forced to do slave labor.


Long - A fireman aboard the Ocean Liner who preaches Marxism. Long takes Yank to New York City to prove to Yank that all members of the upper class are the same.


The Secretary -  Works at the I.W.W. office in New York City. He comes to believe that Yank works for the government and throws him out on the street.


Gentleman -  A member of the upper class. He calls the police because Yank causes him to miss a bus. Yank is imprisoned because of the incident.


Second Engineer - Escorts Mildred Douglas into the stokehole of the Ocean Liner. The Second Engineer warns Mildred that her white dress be ruined, but she ignores him.


The Guard - Works at the Black Island prison where Yank is held after causing the Gentleman to miss his bus. The Guard shoots water at Yank when he bends the bars of his cell back.


 


The Hairy Ape seems to be a political play that reflects the exploitation of workers during the industrial revolution. The play is brutal and bitterly presented to catch the feeling of the audience. Yank because of his lack of knowledge and wealth became a willing victim of the monster that industrialism brought during those times. Yank is the symbol the millions of workers being lowly compensated because they lack the skill and education. The gorilla that killed Yank is the rich and the educated man who rule the world. The zoo represents the world, where many humans act like animals in the competition of who will be at the top of the business. Due to the massive changes brought by industrialism, many people unable to fit in.  


Reference


The Hairy Ape Study Guide [Online] Available at:  http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-hairyape/essay3.html [Accessed 26 Feb 2010]



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